Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that he will not compensate the dismissed local government chairmen unless the Supreme Court issues an order to do so.
Makinde made this statement on Saturday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while addressing the garnishee order on state government accounts recently obtained from an Abuja Federal High Court by the local government chairmen dismissed by the governor in 2019.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Justice A.O. Ebong issued an order on Dec. 15, attaching the state government’s accounts in ten commercial banks in the country.
Ebong issued the order while ruling on a garnishee proceeding initiated by the dismissed local government chairmen who were ousted by the governor on May 29, 2019.
The Supreme Court had on May 7, 2021, nullified the dismissal of the chairmen and councillors pronounced by the governor on the day of his inauguration for his first term in office in 2019.
The removed council chairmen had obtained a N4,874,889,425.60 judgement against Makinde and other state officials and agencies. Of this, N1.5 billion had been paid, leaving a balance of N3.5 billion.
However, in response to the court ruling, Makinde stated that his government would not yield to pressure to allocate the state’s funds to the wrong individuals until all legal avenues were exhausted.
He affirmed that the dismissal of the former council chairmen in 2019 was justified because their elections were based on unconstitutionality.
The governor also criticised the ruling obtained from the Federal High Court in Abuja, labelling it as an abuse of the court process.
“The ex-LG chairmen will not get a dime until the supreme court asks us to pay. I will not pay into wrong people. This is a government that is based on the constitution,” he stated.
Regarding the alleged conversion of Agodi forest into a housing estate, Makinde mentioned that those opposing the action were misinformed.
He insisted that the decision would be beneficial to the state both economically and in terms of security. (NAN)